The purpose of this invention is to provide a group of products which are specially designed for self protection under various conditions. Although each of these products is an aerosol spray irritant, the individual units are designed to function properly under certain limiting conditions similar in principle to the differences between the use of a shotgun, rifle or pistol depending on conditions. Thus, a person would not use a pistol to get wide coverage at minimum distance and would not use a shotgun for long distance accuracy. The present state of the art in irritant sprays is that the user has very little choice and as a practical matter, can only try to use the available unit for all purposes and hope for the best.
A number of irritant spray products are available but their use is limited by a variety of factors. Their reaction may be slow, and their range and spray characteristics limited. Additionally, many products have an inadequate shelf-life such that the irritant effect is lost over a period of time from as short as one month to one year or more depending on the construction of the irritant spray unit and temperature to which it is exposed. An additional problem with existing spray units is that they can be easily accidentally actuated. For example, if the spray unit is being carried in a pocket or purse, the other contents present such as keys or the like can press against the unit actuator causing it to discharge. The user could also accidentally depress the actuator when trying to remove the spray unit from the pocket or purse. A cover for the unit would avoid such possibilities but is unacceptable because of the extra time required to remove the cap before the spray unit is available for use and it also requires the use of two hands to perform this operation. Substantially immediate availability for use and a free hand to ward off an attacker are extremely desireable characteristics of the aerosol irritant spray device. Any spray preventing safety device should also be easily operated in the dark by feel alone so that the unit can be used at night or under conditions where visibility is impared.